


the shot you wanted

by Anonymous



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: (no thanks to Jack), Alternate Universe, Bitty is a dancer and never skated at all, Jack is the same hockey bro that we know and love, M/M, and some mistaken identity that gets resolved quickly, there's a petting zoo involved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 19:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9782390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: As a member of the Samwell Dance Ensemble, Bitty has to do a lot of fundraising which is why he was so excited that the Samwell Daily promised to feature the Dance Ensemble's Petting Zoo at the annual Samwell Carnival in a special spread to highlight their cause. Now if only he could find the right photographer in the crowd.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic started out as a drabble in response to @iwantakokokringle's request for a "zimbits zoo meetcute". 6000 words later and here we are...

“He’s late,” Bitty grumbled as he bounced up and down on his toes, trying to spot the photographer in the swarm of students around them. His search was a little hindered in that he wasn’t sure who he was looking for exactly. He had only corresponded with the  _ Daily _ ’s photographer Brian over email and Brian’s student ID picture left a lot to be desired in identification purposes.

Next to him, Trina shrugged as she leaned over the card table they had set up to be their ticket booth for the weekend. The poster board that they had decorated to proclaim loudly “SAMWELL DANCE PRESENTS THE PETTING ZOO! ADMISSION 3 TICKETS” flapped in the wind as she taped it a little more securely to the table. 

Just then, he spotted a tall dark-haired guy with a camera slung around his neck through the crowd. The guy was taller than Bitty would have guessed based on his student ID picture and a lot better looking, but the heavy-duty camera and the slightly lost look on his face as he scanned the crowd seemed like pretty good indicators. This was Brian at last. Bitty waited another minute as Brian looked around the crowd and with a roll of his eyes, he plunged into the crowd to retrieve the photographer. He had things to do this afternoon that did not include waiting around for the  _ Daily _ ’s errant photographer after all. 

“For God’s sake,” Bitty said to himself as he dodged a gaggle of girls to land himself in front of the photographer. He still hadn’t managed to catch Brian’s attention until he reached out and grabbed his arm. Brian looked down at him, clearly startled, and frowned. Bitty immediately took his hand back and cleared his throat. “You’re looking for the petting zoo, right?” he asked.

The question seemed to further confuse Brian. He looked at a loss for words, his lips puckered with a question that never came. Bitty resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. Brian may have been prettier than expected, but he seemed considerably less competent. 

“You’re here to take pictures, aren’t you?” Bitty asked, growing annoyed. He gestured at the big camera around the guy’s neck and Brian put a hand on it as though just remembering it.

“Uh, yeah?” Brian said as though unsure himself.

“Well, then c’mon,” Bitty said and steered him towards the petting zoo where a small line was forming at the ticket booth, much to Bitty’s satisfaction. 

The petting zoo had been Bitty’s idea. The dance team normally manned a booth that made some sub-standard cotton candy and raised the bulk of their money by batting their eyelashes at the football players. There was still going to be plenty of eyelash-batting with the petting zoo, but this way, they also had baby goats on their side. It was a win-win.

It had taken some real legwork to get the petting zoo to come to the annual Samwell College Carnival and to get all the permits in place. He’d even had to bribe the German club to give up their customary corner lot at the Carnival to make room for the pens, but all it had cost him in the end was a few hours of his time teaching some very enthusiastic students how to make strudel which was hardly a burden.

“We were so excited to hear you wanted to take pictures! The dance team is trying to raise money to go to a showcase in Florida, you know?,” Bitty explained as he opened the gate and let Brian in behind him with a quick wave to Trina who was taking tickets at the table. Trina did a double take when she saw Brian with Bitty and gave Bitty a conspiratorial smile as soon as Brian had walked into the small pen ahead of Bitty. Bitty lifted one shoulder in response, agreeing with the unspoken “ _ He’s hotter than expected _ ”, and grinned back before turning back to Brian. 

Brian looked dumbfounded by all of the animals he was suddenly surrounded by, one hand still resting on top of the camera. 

“I’m not sure what all you wanted to get a shot of, but we have a pair of cute little goats over there and then some baby chicks and guinea pigs,” Bitty said, pointing to a few of the animals around them in the smaller pens. “Oh and bunnies!”

“Uh, which one is your favorite?” Brian asked. Bitty noticed his accent for the first time, curling around the “Uh” in slightly foreign way. He couldn’t quite put his finger on where though. 

Bitty smiled brightly before waving him forward to one of the smaller enclosures. He opened the makeshift gate and closing it behind them, he picked up one of the flop-eared rabbits that was munching on alfalfa in the corner. It squirmed in his arms a moment before allowing Bitty to pet it.  Bitty laid his cheek on the rabbit in his arms and smiled.

“Bunnies, for sure,” he said. 

The click of the camera shutter surprised Bitty and he looked up to see that Brian had taken a quick shot of him cuddling the rabbit. He blushed and put the rabbit down before brushing off his shirt a little self-consciously. They made their way back out to the main enclosure with the goats where Brian took another shot or two of the goats and allowed Bitty to chatter about the dance ensemble without interruption. 

Then, almost out nowhere, another man nearly tackled Brian with a hug. Brian wrestled himself free with a laugh and miraculously neither of them fell down, but the small goat that Brian had been petting was spooked to other side of the pen. Bitty frowned, about to scold the newcomer when the man started shouting at Brian.

“ZIMMERMANN, YOU FUCKER!” the newcomer yelled, punching Brian on the arm. The new man had long brown hair and a mustache that wouldn’t have been out of place in the ‘70s. Bitty’s frown deepened as the name. He could have sworn Brian’s last name was Perry or something, not Zimmermann. “We were looking everywhere for you and you’re over here petting goats. Should’ve known.”

“Shits, I’m pretty sure there’s no wrestling in here,” Brian laughed and pushed his friend on the shoulder gently. “No yelling either.”

“Fuck, right you are, Jackabelle,” his friend said, pitching his voice in a dramatic whisper. “Gotta respect the animals.”

Bitty’s gaze swung between the photographer and the newcomer, distinctly uncomfortable at the sudden certainty that that whoever this guy was that he had literally dragged out of the crowd was  _ not _ Brian from the Daily. He was just some poor guy with a camera who had been too polite to tell Bitty otherwise. Bitty flushed, dizzy at the thought of that kind of mistake, but before he could say anything, the newcomer turned to Bitty as if seeing him for the first time. 

“Hey, man,” he said. “Sorry for scaring the wildlife.”

“Oh,” Bitty said, feeling a little flat-footed all of a sudden. “It happens? I mean, uh...it’s okay.”

The guy nodded and then clucked at the goat he had spooked a moment before, trying to entice it back over. It shuffled even farther away, giving him a side-eye that made Bitty snort. The newcomer pouted a bit and then turned to Not-Brian, “Hey goat-whisperer, get it to come back over here.”

Not-Brian gave his friend a doubtful look.

“It has taste, Shits, I can’t fix that,” he said drily. Bitty sucked in his lips to keep from laughing at the deadpan delivery. The friend shrugged and shook his head in exaggerated disappointment before turning his attention to one of the other animals in the pen, leaving Bitty alone with Not-Brian again. 

“Um, did you...get the shot you wanted?” Bitty asked lamely. 

Not-Brian smiled softly at him and patted his camera.

“I think so,” he said, not breaking eye contact with Bitty until his friend exclaimed loudly beside them as he leaned down to pet a large pot-bellied pig. Not-Brian winced and cleared his throat before he said, “We should go before he tries to pick the pig up or something.”

Bitty nodded, unsure how to respond. Not-Brian lingered for a moment and then collected his friend and left, waving a bit as he ducked through the gate. Bitty gaped at his retreating back for a long moment before dragging a hand down his face in disbelief.  _ Had that really just happened? God, how embarrassing. _

Bitty was still standing in the middle of the main pen when someone tapped him on the shoulder a few minutes later. Bitty turned around to find a tall, dark-haired man who looked considerably more like Brian’s student ID picture standing behind him looking impatient. He had a bag slung around his shoulder and a bored look on his face.

“Eric Bittle?” he asked and when Bitty nodded, he held out a hand for Bitty to shake. “Brian Perrin from the  _ Daily _ . Nice to meet you.”

When Bitty finished showing Brian around the small petting zoo and walked him out, he let out a huge gush of air and collapsed in the empty folding chair next to Alice at the front table.

“Where’s Trina?” he asked, looking around for her as Alice took a handful of tickets from a couple of freshmen. She waved them in before sparing Bitty a glance. 

“Dunno,” Alice said. “She waited around for you for a bit, but her shift ended at two and I think she wanted to get back to the house to do some homework.”

Bitty checked his watch to see it was almost a quarter past.

“Lord,” he said. “Where did this day go?”

Alice shrugged noncommittally and popped her gum. An awkward silence fell between them while Bitty replayed what had just happened in his head. He couldn’t remember if he’d even exchanged names with the first photographer. Had he introduced himself? Maybe the guy had just been so flustered that he’d just gone along with it? He cast a look at Alice. She hadn’t been there to see him first hand, but she was a senior and the guy had seemed older, so she might know him.

“Hey Alice?” Bitty ventured. Alice hummed in acknowledgement, her eyes still scanning the crowd. “Do you know of a...Zimmermann on campus?” 

Alice noticeably sharpened. She turned to Bitty and snapped her gum again, thinking it over.

“Like Jack Zimmermann?” she asked finally. 

“Maybe?” Bitty said.

“Tall, dark and handsome?” Alice asked.

Bitty pursed his lips and nodded.

“Oh my god, Bitty, did you meet him?”  Alice said, pitching her voice low and conspiratorial all of a sudden and turning more fully in her chair towards him. “Isn’t he weird? He was in my freshman seminar and never talked to anyone except this guy who was on the hockey team with him, but god, he’s dreamy.” 

“Oh, um, he was just quiet, I guess?” Bitty said, a little unsure.  _ Weird _ didn’t seem like quite the right word for whatever Jack Zimmermann was. “I kind of...waylaid him by accident?”

Alice hummed again and with another pop of her gum, she wagged a finger at Bitty.

“Stay away from the hockey team, Itty Bitty,” she said. “They’re bad news, even if they throw wicked kegsters.”

 

\--

 

Bitty had felt a moment of panic the first time he’d seen Jack after the festival, but Jack had just nodded cursorily and went on his way. Bitty had breathed a sigh of relief and thought that that was the end of it. Except now that Bitty knew who Jack Zimmermann was, he couldn’t stop seeing him around. Had they always eaten breakfast at around the same time? Or crossed paths so often on their way to class? Bitty was almost ready for Jack to be sitting in the back of one of his lecture halls one day. Jack always nodded when they made eye contact and even managed a wave once, but usually no more than that.

One day while studying at Annie’s late into the afternoon, a shadow fell across Bitty’s table and when he looked up to see Jack, he was barely even surprised. Jack hovered awkwardly over the table, hands shoved in his pocket and cleared his throat. 

“I...um, saw the article in  _ The Daily _ ,” Jack said as way of greeting and Bitty flushed. 

“Oh yeah?” he squeaked.

“Yeah,” Jack said with a softer smile than before. “Nice pictures.”

“I’m so sorry about all that,” Bitty said quickly. “I thought you were someone else.”

Jack tilted his head to the side as if whatever Bitty had said was strange, but then he shrugged and the moment passed. 

“I got some good shots for class,” he said.

“Oh!,” Bitty said. “Good.”

“So you’re...you dance?” Jack asked. He was still hovering over the table even though there was an empty chair across from Bitty. Bitty almost had to crane his neck to look up at him.

“Yep,” he said. “My whole life. I started when I could barely walk.”

“Me too,” Jack said and then quickly corrected himself before Bitty could ask. “I mean, with hockey, not dance. I don’t dance.”

“Not even a little bit?” Bitty asked, teasing.

Jack blushed a little and then looked away.

“Maybe sometimes,” he allowed. Then seeming to want to change the subject, he cleared his throat and asked, “Did you raise the money you needed?”

“Oh yeah,” Bitty said cheerfully. “Turns out baby goats are super popular.”

Jack chuckled at that.

“Nice,” he said. 

“Yeah, we’re really excited,” Bitty said. “We’ll be going this summer after the semester ends for a couple weeks and the deal was that Samwell would pay half if we paid half, but it’s still a lot of money, so you know, we were all worried that the normal cotton candy routine wouldn’t really work and...Lord, sorry, I’m rambling.”

“No, it’s fine,” Jack said. “I’m glad you’ll be able to go.”

“Me too,” Bitty said, taking a breath and smiling back at Jack. 

“So, is your whole...uh team going?” Jack asked.

“Ensemble!” Bitty corrected. “And pretty much all of us are. Except for a few of the graduating girls who won’t be able to make it.”

“Oh, good,” Jack said. “And it’s...you’re friends with all of them?”

Bitty deflated a little at the question. It was a standard question he got when any straight guy on campus realized that Bitty could be their ‘in’ with the dance girls. 

“Did you want me to introduce you to one of the girls?” Bitty asked flatly. 

“Uh, no, thank you,” Jack said after a beat of silence. When Bitty looked up at him, he was frowning. 

An awkward silence fell between them and Bitty looked around for something to say, not sure what was happening. Jack seemed to be struggling himself. 

“So, was there something…?” Bitty started to say and then trailed off, unsure of what he even wanted to ask. 

“Have you ever been to a hockey game before?” Jack blurted out suddenly. 

Bitty blinked in shock and then shook his head, speechless. 

“We’re playing tomorrow. You should...you should come,” Jack said. 

“Oh,” Bitty said. “Okay.”

Jack nodded in satisfaction and then just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone, the little bell over the door at Annie’s ringing merrily in his wake. 

 

\--

 

Bitty went to the game. And then the one after that too. In no time at all, he was a regular at Samwell Men’s Hockey games even though Trina had only agreed to come to the first two before begging off. Bitty didn’t even mind - he went alone or occasionally with one of the other girls from the dance program when he could drag them out after rehearsal. 

There was something electric about the games that he loved. He had always wanted to skate when he was younger, but had never had much opportunity down in Georgia. He remembered his first time on skates though, with his mother holding him up as they made slow circles around the ice. When he had announced he wanted to be a figure skater later that week, his mother had laughed and suggested dance instead. 

The compromise had stuck, although Bitty love dance, he did wonder sometimes about how it could have gone differently. Hockey sparked that same flame in him that figure skating had when he was younger. He wondered how hard it would be to learn. He even went so far as to check when a beginner’s skating class might be held, but then immediately abandoned the idea when he saw they met at 5 A.M. every morning. What person in their right mind got up that early for a class? Even a fun phys ed credit wasn’t worth that wake-up call. 

Bitty even thought about asking Jack to teach him at least the basics, but truth be told Bitty didn’t actually see much of Jack even when he went to the games. The first game he’d gone to, he had managed to drag three of the dance girls including Trina with him so he wouldn’t be alone and although at one point during warm-ups Jack had waved at him, that had been it. Bitty wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. 

After the game, his group had drifted with a small crowd to Jerry’s, a bar right on the edge of campus that was popular with upperclassmen, but after a hard loss, it seemed as though the hockey team wasn’t in the mood for drinks. They won the second game, but Bitty had a paper due by midnight that he hadn’t finished and Trina dragged him back to the dorms to do it as soon as the final buzzer sounded. 

Now every time he left for a game, Trina would give him a knowing look and Bitty would insist “it wasn’t like that”. And really, it wasn’t. He really only saw Jack from afar most days and when they did talk, it was usually in passing somewhere on campus when Jack would wave hello and Bitty would wave back and they exchanged pleasantries. So what if Bitty had a little crush on him? Who could blame him when Jack Zimmermann had an ass like that? It was all harmless fantasy anyway. It’s not like someone like Jack would be interested in Bitty in a million years. 

Of course, it would be better for Bitty if he had chosen someone to crush on who didn’t send incredibly mixed signals. It seemed like most days days Jack was content with just waving and saying hello, but some days he would stop and talk for while or even make sure Bitty was coming to a game in the near future. Bitty always went to the games if Jack asked, even if homework was due. The only thing that ever really kept him away was his own performances or rehearsals. 

It was on one of those days that Bitty saw Jack across the quad and waved as usual, but instead of waving back, Jack made a beeline for him.

“Hey, Jack,” Bitty said as soon as Jack caught up to him. Jack fell into step beside him easily.

“Hi,” he said a little breathlessly. “Are you headed to class?”

“No, just coffee.” Bitty couldn’t help the small laugh that bubbled from him. The sudden appearance of Jack sometimes had that effect on him - a giddiness that was hard to hide. Jack didn’t seem bothered by it - in fact, he looked more cheerful than Bitty could ever remember him looking. It was a good look for him. After a moment of silence where it became clear that Jack was happy to let silence lapse as they walked together, Bitty ventured, “You’re in a good mood.”

“Yeah,” Jack answered slowly. “I guess I am.”

Bitty smiled sideways at him, bemused, but Jack hardly seemed to notice. They walked in companionable silence, with Bitty sneaking looks at him every few seconds and blushing when he got caught. They arrived at Annie’s too soon for Bitty’s liking, especially when Jack paused outside and looked at the door then back to Bitty.

“Did you want to grab a cup?” Bitty asked, gesturing to the door.  

“I have a photography exhibit tonight,” Jack said instead of answering. His eyes widened a bit as though he had surprised himself and then he looked down, obviously a little embarrassed before adding, “It’s a class requirement.”

“Oh, right,” Bitty said, more confused than ever. “At Kotter Hall, right? We always have to dodge the sculpture exhibits in there to get to the auditorium for dress rehearsals.”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Well, best of luck,” Bitty said slowly. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Yeah,” Jack said again, nodding. 

“Okay,” Bitty said after another moment of nodding at each other. “I’ll see you around, Jack.”

Bitty gave him a small wave and turned to go inside, but before he could open the door fully, Jack caught his arm. Bitty turned back surprised and Jack’s hand slid down and away.

“Do you want to come?” Jack asked before stuffing his hands back in his pockets and swaying awkwardly. Bitty tried not to gawk at him. 

“To your show?” Bitty asked. 

“You don’t have to,” Jack hurried to say, his sudden intensity evaporating. “I just thought --”

“Jack,” Bitty interrupted with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’d love to. I’m sure your pictures are going to be great.”

Jack settled into a smile, rocking back on his heels. 

“Good,” he said. “Great. I’ll...uh, see you there?”

“Definitely,” Bitty agreed. 

 

\--

 

“What does it mean when a straight boy goes out of his way to track you down and then invite you to his photography exhibit?” Bitty said as he flung himself onto Trina’s bed later that afternoon. 

“It means he’s not straight,” Trina said, barely looking up from where she was typing on her computer.

“Trina, please be reasonable.” 

“I am being reasonable. That’s not ‘let’s be friends’ behavior, that’s ‘please see how cultured I am and then be so impressed by me that you’re forced to date me’ behavior.” 

“Alice said he went with Camilla Collins to Screw last year.” 

“So, what?” Trina scoffed.  “I’d go to Screw with Camilla Collins if I had a chance, too. Maybe he swings both ways.” 

“This isn’t helping,” Bitty groaned. He flung an arm over his eyes and sank further down into the mattress.  

“What will help then?” Trina asked, nudging him with a socked foot. 

“Alcohol. Lots of it.” he declared dramatically.

“Done.” 

By the time Bitty and Trina made their way to Kotter Hall for the exhibit, they were both pleasantly, warmly buzzed with the tequila. Bitty hid a flask in his back pocket just in case any of the exhibits or their creators became too much to handle without it.

“What are you going to do if all of his pictures are awful?” Trina asked as they neared Kotter, arms linked together. Bitty laid his head on her shoulder for a minute and sighed.

“Tell them they’re lovely anyways,” he said honestly. 

“God, you’re pathetic,” she said, but the words had no bite to them, just sympathy.

“I know,” Bitty sighed. “Trina, he’s so straight. What am I gonna do?”

“Oh, Itty Bitty,” she sighed and patted him in the head. 

There was a small crowd milling around inside Kotter when they got there, but even so, Bitty’s eyes landed on Jack almost immediately. Jack happened to look up and make eye contact as they walked in, offering a small wave to Bitty. Bitty let a small sigh escape him as he waved back and allowed Trina to pull him towards the miniature refreshments table in the corner. 

“He can’t keep looking at me like that if we’re going to be friends,” Bitty declared, gesturing a little too widely and almost spilling the drink she handed him in the process. He caught it just before it spilled over and took a moment to steady himself.

Trina smirked at him.

“Are you sure he wants to be friends?” she asked, looking over Bitty’s shoulder surreptitiously. Bitty stepped more fully into her line of vision so she was forced to stop sizing Jack up from across the room. 

“Yes,” Bitty said emphatically. “Friends. Just bros. He even fistbumped me earlier this week. I bet if we played on a rec team together, there’d even be congratulatory ass slapping.”

Trina almost spit out her drink from laughing and shook her head.

“Maybe that’s how hockey players declare their intentions,” she said, feigning seriousness.

Bitty dissolved into giggles, hiding behind his small glass of cider. A few of the other people in the gallery shot them dirty looks, but Bitty ignored them as he pulled himself back together. 

By the time he makes his way across the room to Jack’s small exhibit, Trina had conveniently abandoned him despite her fervent promises not to. He should have known. Jack was preoccupied with a gaggle of girls cooing over what seemed to be a picture of geese. Bitty busied himself with looking at Jack’s other photos, which seemed to be mainly portraits of his team members in various candid moments. When he got to the last one in the neatly arranged line, he couldn’t help the small squeak of surprise that escaped him.

“You don’t like it?” Jack asked from behind him, surprising Bitty even more. Bitty turned around quickly, eyes wide, only barely managing not to slosh his drink all over himself.

“Oh, it’s just,” Bitty squeaked and waved vaguely at the picture. “That’s me.”

“Is that okay?” Jack asked, looking suddenly concerned. His forehead was creased in worry as he took Bitty in.

“Is it…?” Bitty echoed and then nodded when he couldn’t continue, swallowing quickly to find his voice again. “It’s great,” he managed finally.

He turned back around to hide the sudden, fierce blush on his face, but he was sure Jack had to have noticed anyways, especially since Jack had stepped suddenly closer. 

The picture was different than the others in Jack’s collection. It was softer around the edges, the sunlight framing Bitty’s head with a soft, golden glow of warmth as Bitty, obviously unaware of the camera, cuddled a rabbit to his face, smiling into its fur. It was a perfectly timed frame of the moment. 

“Can I have a copy?” Bitty asked, turning to Jack.

“Really?” Jack cocked his head to the side, as if confused.

“If it’s not any trouble,” Bitty said, suddenly nervous. “It’s such a nice shot. I bet my mother would love to have it.”

Bitty had no intentions of giving it to his mother.

“Yeah,” Jack said, nodding. He was looking at Bitty strangely now, with that special Jack Zimmermann brand of intensity that Bitty was slowly getting acquainted with. “I can bring some prints to the game tomorrow if you’ll be there.”

Bitty pressed his lips together to tamp down a sudden smile. 

“Oh, are you playing?” he asked as casually as he could.

Jack laughed a big huff of a laugh and shrugged.

“I’ll be there,” Bitty promised.

 

\--

 

To his credit, Bitty was a natural on the ice. After his first few stumbling lessons with Jack, he found his feet quickly and found himself longingly looking at skates for sale online before he finally bought a secondhand pair for himself a few weeks later. After that, he started sneaking onto the ice whenever he could, even when Jack wasn’t available to coach him, which was most of the time since Jack had been wrapped up in playoffs and his team lately. Bitty didn’t see much of him except at the games he could go to, which wasn’t anything new, but since the photography show had been tinged with a side of extra disappointment. 

The best times to get onto the ice were Saturday mornings, which Bitty found out by accident. Normally he wouldn’t have even been awake, but he’d had a paper due the night before that he hadn’t finished until early that morning. He’d walked past Faber on his way back from the library and seen it lit up inside. When he’d drifted through the front doors, the girl behind the desk told him with a yawn that it was free skate from six until ten every Saturday and then checked out a pair of skates to him. When Bitty made it out to the ice, he found himself alone in Faber for the first time and he couldn’t help but return the next week and the week after that. Sometimes he shared the ice with a handful of other students, but usually it was empty and quiet.

It was on one of those quiet mornings that Bitty came across Jack, taking pictures of the empty ice. Bitty came up behind where Jack was standing and watched him for a moment, unnoticed. Things with Jack since the art exhibit had been...friendly. It was still hard for Bitty to tell if it was anything more than that, even though it had been weeks. 

Bitty wasn’t in any hurry to find out though. It had been all over campus when Jack signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Providence Falconers earlier that week shortly after the Samwell Men’s Hockey team had been eliminated from the playoffs and Bitty had a feeling that the contract was the answer to most of the questions he had about Jack anyway. He was working on not being sad about it. After all, he didn’t even know for certain that Jack was deferring a relationship for the NHL. He probably never would know either and that was fine. He could be friends with Jack. That part was easy. 

“Did you get the shot you wanted?” Bitty asked after he had taken a moment to gather himself. Jack started a bit and then smiled in surprise at Bitty, letting his camera rest back on his chest at the end of its strap. 

Jack didn’t answer right away and Bitty walked a little unsteadily on his new skates next to him at the gate, nudging him a bit as he leaned his forearms next to Jack’s. Jack looked him up and down, but still didn’t say anything.

“Jack?” Bitty prompted gently.

Jack cleared his throat and fiddled with the camera around his neck. 

“Not quite yet, I think,” he said at last. He stopped aside and opened the gate for Bitty, waving him onto the ice. Bitty pressed his lips together in a confused smile and then, patting Jack’s arm, he took his first few tentative steps onto ice, holding onto the boards behind him while he found his balance. He was still getting used to skates, although once he found his balance, he did fine. Jack was watching him with a complicated expression.

“Did you have your skates?” Bitty asked, although he knew the answer. Jack practically took his skates to class with him - there was no way he would have shown up to Faber without them, even if his season was technically done. When Jack didn’t answer, Bitty bit his lip and said, a little more uncertainly, “Well, if you want to skate, I’m sure I could use another lesson or two.”

He pushed off from the boards and with a small wobble, found his stride fairly easily. He made a few loops around the rink before trying to pick up some speed with small tricks he’d picked up from a few YouTube videos he’d watched. Next, he wanted to try to teach himself a few small jumps. He planned to see if he could maybe sneak into a beginner’s class and learn from an instructor, but until he could figure out the logistics, he had been watching every video he could. 

Jack joined him a few minutes later, falling into strides with him easily even though Bitty felt like he was really picking up speed at that point.

“You’re looking good,” Jack said. “You’ve got great edge control for a beginner.”

“Thanks, Jack,” Bitty said, throwing him a smile before quickly looking back to the ice in front of them. He was scared he might go flying into the ice if he looked away from more than a second, although he was getting more confident. 

“We should try you out with some stickhandling drills soon,” Jack said.

Bitty scoffed.

“I was thinking about some jumps maybe,” he said. “Pursue my childhood dreams and all that.”

Jack chuckled at that. Bitty had confessed his childhood dream of being a figure skater the first time they’d skated together and Jack had chirped him every time he fell down, offering to get him some training pads which Bitty had proudly refused. 

A silence fell between them after that, but it wasn’t uncomfortable with the sound of their skates on the ice filling the air around them. Jack drifted a little closer until Bitty felt their hands brush together a few times. Bitty tried not to react when they did and kept looking forward, determined to be as casual as possible. They were friends and it was fine, after all. 

And then Jack grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together. Bitty was so startled, his skates nearly came out from underneath him and his eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of his sockets as he looked down at their suddenly joined hands. Jack dropped his hand just as quickly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean - “ Jack said quickly. 

“It’s fine,”  Bitty insisted just as quickly, grabbing onto Jack’s sleeve to help pull himself to a stop. Jack reached out almost instinctively and grasped his elbow firmly, bringing them suddenly much closer together.  “It just...surprised me is all.”

“Oh,” Jack said, eloquent as always. He was looking down at Bitty with that same lost expression that Bitty remembered from the very first time he’d seen Jack, alone in the crowd, scanning faces to find his friends. Bitty slowly reached out and grabbed ahold of Jack’s other sleeve, pulling himself a little closer so that they were facing each other. 

Jack looked down at him with a creased forehead, his lips framing words that weren’t coming out just yet. 

“Jack,” Bitty said quietly. He glanced around the empty ice to make sure that they were still alone, but the hallway out to the lobby was still dark and it was early yet. Still, he could barely hear himself when he said, “I understand why you can’t.”

The words hung between them for a long moment before Bitty felt Jack’s hand squeeze his elbow a little tighter. 

“Bitty,” he said, low and sincere. His eyes were intense and impossible to look away from as he stared down at Bitty and Bitty’s mouth felt suddenly dry with nerves. Bitty swallowed hard and licked his lips, finally managing to look away for a moment. Jack’s cool, soft fingers on his cheek made him look back up. Jack’s hand slid to cup Bitty’s face gently, his thumb rubbing along Bitty’s cheekbone absently. 

After what felt like a lifetime, Jack leaned in and pressed his mouth against Bitty’s in a featherlight kiss and then pulled away again. Bitty’s fingers curled more tightly into Jack’s pullover and he leaned up to try to catch Jack’s mouth again, but when he did, he slipped forward and wobbled on his skates. Jack caught him easily, setting him upright and huffing out a laugh. Bitty felt his mouth pucker into a pout. 

“It’s not fair to finally kiss me out here on the ice when I’m still learning,” Bitty protested. “Puts you at an unfair advantage.”

Jack smirked and then, to Bitty’s surprise, grabbed his hand and twined their fingers together, kissing Bitty’s fingers firmly.

“Let’s get you off the ice then, eh?” Jack said. “We can take the long way over to Annie’s and talk.”

**Author's Note:**

> your sweet comments are really the only reason i write at the end of the day. i love them and cherish you. thanks for reading!


End file.
